6 Great DSLR Cameras for the Holiday Season

Dec 1, 2009 by Matt Voran

Christmas is just around the corner and if you are thinking about getting something for the aspiring or even professional photographer in your life, then this list gives you 6 great places to start!

Beginners

1. Nikon D3000 –

This 10 Megapixel entry from Nikon is quickly gaining popularity due to its impressive feature set and low cost. If you are looking for an excellent value, and a great camera to learn the photo ropes on, this is an excellent choice. It can be found here, in a great kit for less than 500 bucks.

2. Olympus E-Volt E520 –

This Olympus has a great feature set for the money, including live view, face recognition, and a 3” LCD screen. The price is super low and comes bundled with an awesome 14mm-40mm lens. What’s great about that? The lens is substantially wider than most bundled kit lenses which usually go no wider than 18mm. A 14mm zoom lens is not cheap when purchased separately, so it’s a nice thing to have.

Advanced

3. Nikon D90 –

I am partial to this camera as I own its fantastic predecessor, the D80 (which is still a magnificent camera and can be had for very low prices now). The D90 took what already was a great camera and only made it better. Better light metering and added video capture (although somewhat limited) more dedicated function buttons, faster shooting (4.5 FPS) and a fantastic 18-105mm kit lens make this a great camera for the more serious photog.

4. Canon EOS Rebel T1i –

This Canon entry into the intermediate price range is at the top of many lists due to its fantastic value. If megapixels matter to you (they don’t matter to me – read why megapixels don’t matter) then you would be interested that this camera boasts a 15MP sensor, which is tops in this price range.

Entry Level Professional

5. Nikon D300s -

This second version of the super popular and totally awesome D300, is even better than the original adding HD movie capability, a quiet shutter mode and its even a little faster at 7 frame per second.

6. Canon EOS 7D -

This camera has gotten a ton of attention and for good reason.  At this price, a camera with 18mp is unheard of, and the feature set is impressive.   Could be a really great value if  you are willing to do without a full frame sensor.

I hope this list helps give you a good place to start when doing your research this holiday season.  Sound off in the comments about your favorite camera, there are tons of great cameras out there that this list doesn’t cover.